At Monday night's Town meeting Shelburne's legislative representatives, Senator Diane Snelling, and House Representatives Joan Lenes and Kate Webb, updated community members on current bills and reform in the House and Senate.

Snelling opened the discussion and said that she is on a committee focused on the reform and redesign of the state government. Snelling admitted that building a new governmental model, "Challenges for Change," is a huge undertaking to improve savings and services. Snelling is the chair of the Joint Legislative Government Accountability Committee. Recently, the committee worked with a consultant on eight specific challenges, including education, human services, and regulatory reform among others. In the next four to six weeks the committee expects to receive plans and designs back from the administration. All of this is during a "desperately bleak economy," said Snelling. However, she added that in terms of the bottom line, "It is really about the people of Vermont."

After Snelling, Joan Lenes, a member of the Institutions and Corrections Committee, talked about that committee's role in meeting the "Challenges for Change," which included reducing the number of people incarcerated and ensuring that those who come out of the corrections system have housing and addiction treatment.

On another note, Lenes also mentioned that she has a list of people from Shelburne who are owed money by the state. Contact Lenes to see if your name is on the list.

Kate Webb has also been very busy in Montpelier. She opened with a discussion of her work on the Fish, Wildlife, and Water Resources Committee. Some of this committee's priorities include keeping phosphorous out of the lake, protecting the river corridor, and inspecting the tritium leaks at Vermont Yankee. Webb is also working on permitting and licensing within the state and is looking for thoughts and suggestions from people who have been through those processes. The hope is to render the methods for permitting and licensing in as timely, clear, predictable, and coordinated a manner as possible.

The floor then opened for residents to voice their concerns and ask questions of Shelburne's representatives.

Shelburne resident and Selectboard member Al Gobeille posed a question about business in the state. "How do we grow business and the Vermont economy?"

Webb answered saying that broadband is interfering with business, and there is not enough workforce training in the state. She also said that low interest rates and tax deductions would help business.

Community member Victoria Tamas asked if anyone had any out-of-the-box ideas on how to pay for education. Snelling said that a huge problem with education in the state is the Common Level of Appraisal (grand list) not going up.

Resident Don Stevens asked how Vermont could better use our resources to generate revenue. Lenes said that "The things we do well are what we should do more." She mentioned things such as the farm to plate program, composting, and incentives for people to use Vermont's resources on a more regular basis.